Bank capital has been marketed as a safe haven from the volatility of the corporate market but did not escape the rout in October, and now that spreads have recovered, investors have both types of assets to chose from.

Corporate credit spreads took a well-publicised hammering last month. Traders singled out a few names that nobody wanted to hold and their spreads collapsed - Xerox entered Wall Street folklore after traders briefly switched from spreads to cash prices - but whole sectors moved by several basis points.